


Dueling Commanders

by deepseaCritter



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Injury, Fanfiction, Gen, Lightsaber Battles, clone commanders, clone wars au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 15:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12915066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepseaCritter/pseuds/deepseaCritter
Summary: AU where the Clone War is over, no Order 66. Two commanders face off in a *friendly* lightsaber duel. Even the Jedi have bets going on this fight.





	Dueling Commanders

The Jedi temple grounds hadn’t been this loud since the end of the war, and they definitely had never been so busy. The gardens had been temporarily transformed into an arena, with an ever-growing crowd filling up the stadium seating.  Even stranger still was the fact that the majority of the crowd was made up of clones. A few members of the council had wanted the event to remain a private Jedi affair and argued that allowing non-Jedi, _allowing clones_ , onto temple grounds amounted to yet another scandal, but they had been soundly outvoted. Those who maintained close ties to their former soldiers wanted them here, watching as two former clone commanders battled it out for pride and glory.

\----------

There had been a huge uproar in the order when Plo “Jedi council be damned” Koon actually adopted Wolffe; legally made the clone his son and heir. There was some disagreement in the council when Plo announced he was teaching _his son_ how to wield a lightsaber, but since no one was making a fuss about Kenobi training Cody, Plo ignored the naysayers. Giving preferential treatment to one clone commander over another was not acceptable. If his son wanted to learn, he would teach him.

Wolffe had proven to be an adept student, as proficient with the lightsaber as he had been with any other weapon. Before he had always used blasters to channel his energy, utterly destroying targets on bad days. Now Wolffe was learning to channel that anger into a different form of combat.  He excelled in form VII, which made use of the strength and aggression. It was actually quite fun for Plo, who had not been able to train much with form VII himself due to its darker nature. A Jedi could be turned to the dark side by form VII, but an angry clone commander? No that was a perfect match.

Meanwhile, Kenobi had been training with Cody, and the commander had been quick to master lightsaber basic combat forms. Master Yoda had requested Cody begin teaching the younglings about form basics, if that was something he wanted. Having such an important role gave Cody a second purpose in life, and one that was finally of his choosing.

Similar to his former general, Cody was adept at fast and defensive movements.  Everything was about finesse, and a bit of flair. The downside to all of this was that Kenobi’s high level of sass and bravado had clearly transferred over to Cody, which was both endearing and entertaining. Cody joked that he might not have the same glorious locks as his former general, but at least he had the same sense of style…which usually involved gracefully throwing off his robe whenever possible.

Wolffe was not impressed. Cody, Kenobi’s golden boy, was the same little shit that he had always been, now just louder and even more annoying. All that attention was overinflating Cody’s ego, and Wolffe had enough. He hadn’t set out to challenge Cody to a duel, but it happened. In the heat of the moment, all Wolffe wanted was to knock that smug smile off of Cody’s face. There was absolutely no backing down, and they were both too stubborn to refuse anyway. So here they both were, in front of their men and the Jedi, ready to test their new-found skills.

\----------

Gambling typically was frowned upon in the order, but almost everyone seemed to have at least a few credits down on this fight. Odds were definitely in Cody’s favor. He had been training with Kenobi and sparring with Skywalker, and had been deemed proficient enough to introduce lightsaber combat to future generations of Jedi. Wolffe, on the other hand, had been training in seclusion with Plo. No one really knew what to expect of the 104th commander, so it just didn’t seem like a wise move to bet on him.

Among the clones, Wolffe was the hands-down favorite to win. They all liked Cody, but Wolffe…Wolffe had torn the heads off of more battle droids than any of them could count. Most of them wouldn’t face Wolffe if he was armed with a toothpick…but a lightsaber? Cody should have considered himself lucky the fight wasn’t to the death.

\---------

A hush fell over the crowd as the two combatants entered the fighting arena. They walked to a designated center point, and faced each other. Cody had dressed in robes he must have gotten from Obi-wan, of course. Wolffe simply wore his blacks. They were comfortable, and he had spent most of his life wearing them, so it was only fitting he wear them now.

Mater Windu met them, giving them the rules of the fight. The goal was to disarm your opponent, dismemberment was frowned upon. They were now trained swordsmen, so there was no excuse for uncivilized behavior. The arena grounds could be utilized as needed, but it would be preferable if they could stay out of the spectator seating area. No aid could be given by others. First man to disarm his opponent will be the winner. Both commanders nodded in agreement to the terms, and stepped apart to prepare for the fight.

Cody fell back into the classic Soresu opening stance Kenobi had taught him, body turned sideways with his lightsaber held high and left arm outstretched, hand pointing at Wolffe. The 104th commander took a small step back on his right leg, stable with just enough of a base to be mobile in a hurry if needed. Two hands gripped the hilt of his lightsaber, which he held slightly right of center. Both men stared, waiting for the signal to begin. Not that Cody needed a signal to start running his mouth…

“You know Wolffe, you should put that thing down before you get hurt. It would be shame if you lost your good eye.”

Wolffe stayed silent.

“What’s wrong? Normally you’re all bark and no bite, but right now you’re not even barking.” Cody was trying to get a rise out of him.

“I guess Plo’s been taking you to obedience classes. When you graduate, and you’ve been a good boy, do you get a little medal to hang on your collar?”

Wolffe rocked his head side-to-side, trying to ease the tension in his neck. Yes, he was getting angry…but now he had a way to channel that anger.

WIndu signaled the start of the fight. There was a three second hesitation before Cody and Wolffe both jumped forward at each other. Cody swung down at Wolffe’s left leg, causing the clone to have to quickly lunge low to the block the attack. The move was a fake out, and Cody quickly brought the lightsaber up from the block and slashed downward on top of Wolffe, who had dropped on one knee on Cody’s first swing. Wolffe reacted quickly enough, bring his lightsaber a scant inch or two above his head to stop the attack.

With their lightsabers locked overhead, Wolffe was at a disadvantage and had few options to escape the increasing pressure from above. His arms started to bend backwards, bringing the blades dangerously close to his scalp. With a sudden burst of strength, he leapt to his feet, catching Cody off guard and sending him fumbling back several steps. Wolfe continued his forward momentum and charged. Cody defended with three quick swings –right low, left high, right high—which Wolffe parried as he attempted to sidestep around to the left of the commander. Cody had anticipated a different move, and turned in the wrong direction and now had his back to Wolffe. Quickly the 212th commander spun around. As he did so, Wolffe popped him in the face with the pommel of his lightsaber. Definitely what could be classified as an “uncivilized” move, but it felt good to Wolffe.

A collective gasp arose from the crowd as Cody raised his head, with what was clearly a very broken nose and split lip. He cursed as he tried to wipe away the blood dripping from his face and took a wild swing at Wolffe. The blade made contact with Wolffe’s left shoulder, burning away the fabric of his blacks and biting into his skin. Twisting his torso, and moving his lightsaber perpendicular to Cody’s, Wolffe tied to push back to create space and force the blade out from the meat of his shoulder. Feeling the resistance, Cody changed up and took a second swing at Wolffe’s right side. The sudden change forced Wolffe to go down and roll quickly on his newly injured left shoulder to escape the blow. Cody followed with a couple swings, successfully hitting Wolffe in the leg with one as he tried to roll. Once again, the blade sliced deep into Wolffe’s flesh, and he hobbled as he got up and tried to put pressure on his leg. That last move had the 104th commander seething.

 _So much for the disarming only rule_.

It was one thing to take a punch (or pommel) to the face -- that was a normal tactic for them -- but it was something else to strike an opponent when he was down in what was supposed to be a mostly fair fight. Cody was honestly trying to injure Wolffe now. All that fancy lightsaber training and here they were, just beating the crap out of each other like usual. He found sure footing and faced Cody.

The pair once again paused to stare each other down. Both men were breathing heavily and sweating, Wolffe more so in his blacks and from having to roll around on the dirt-covered floor. His shoulder and leg bled freely, and he could feel blood soak into his clothing. He had never wanted to hurt Cody so much as he did right now. Looking into the eyes of his opponent, he could tell Cody felt the same. Wolffe knew he had to end the fight and soon, if he didn’t one of them was going to end up missing a limb or two.

 _Channel your anger into something you can control. Make it your strength. Let it pass from you to your weapon. With each swing, let the anger leave you._ That’s what Plo had told him. It sounded odd, coming from a Jedi, but it had helped Wolffe before. _He_ was not a Jedi, _he_ wasn’t light side or dark side. He was just a man, a clone… _he was a kriffing commander who deserved some damn respect, Cody_!

With that thought, Wolffe made his final charge. He used every bit of his strength to launch a furious barrage of swings at Cody, each with as much force and power as the last. There was no pause, no time to rest, as Cody desperately fought to hold his ground. He was being soundly beaten back, and had to keep taking defensive steps backwards as Wolffe mercilessly hacked away at him. A murmur ran through the crowd as Cody kept retreating.

_The 212 th commander was…losing?_

The assault ended when Wolffe’s blade connected with the emitter of Cody’s lightsaber, destroying the other commander’s blade. The force knocked the broken saber out of his hand, and Cody fell back hard onto the ground. Wolffe held him down with a foot to the chest, and leaned over, bringing his lightsaber to Cody’s throat.

“I win, vod.” The words came out as a deep growl, and they were the first words Wolffe had actually spoken that day. The look of surprised defeat on Cody’s face melted into laughter.

\----------

Plo Koon had jumped up immediately when Wolffe had knocked down his opponent, and was now gleefully clapping as he shouted out, “ _Well done, my son!_ ”  Obi-wan sat in stunned silence, along with most of the other Jedi. On the arena floor, spattered with blood and sweat, Cody was laughing like a fool and Wolfe was genuinely smiling.  The rest of the crowd, every single clone trooper, erupted into a deafening roar as Wolffe held out a hand to his brother and helped Cody to his feet.  

**Author's Note:**

> I normally do not write action scenes...so this was fun.  
> Also, please don't be too harsh on my lightsaber terms and techniques. I spent all of 5 minutes reading about that, and just went with something.


End file.
